Advertisement
Canada
ChinaDiplomacy

China hits back at ‘despicable’ Canada’s call to end arbitrary detentions of foreign nationals

  • Chinese embassy says Ottawa is hypocritical after US and 57 other countries join opposition to state-sponsored arrests
  • Declaration is latest Canadian effort to pressure for release of two of its citizens held in China since December 2018

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
99+
Supporters of Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig outside an extradition hearing for Huawei Technologies’ Meng Wanzhou in 2019. Photo: Reuters
Catherine Wong
China has called Canada “hypocritical and despicable” for leading a coalition of the US and 57 other countries in a non-binding denunciation of the state-sponsored arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political purposes.
Advertisement
Ottawa launched a “declaration against arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations” on Monday as part of its continuing efforts to ramp up diplomatic pressure to free Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, detained in China for more than two years.

The initiative, which “aims to protect citizens of all countries who live, work and travel abroad” was supported by 59 countries, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan and Sweden, in addition to the US. The European Union and African countries like Malawi and Benin are also signatories.

Former diplomat Kovrig and businessman Spavor were detained soon after Canadian authorities arrested Huawei Technologies Co executive Meng Wanzhou on an extradition request by the US in December 2018.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the international community must “stand against” arbitrary detention as a bargaining chip in international relations.
Advertisement

“It’s completely unacceptable. And it’s already prohibited under international human rights conventions. But some countries still do it, and we as a global community have to stand against it,” he said.

“I urge more countries to join us in making it clear that arbitrary detention has absolutely no place in state-to-state relations. Human beings are not bargaining chips. This is a matter of human rights and the rule of law.”

Advertisement